Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball coach Kyle Martin said the sting of last season's Class AAA final loss to Liverpool will never go away.
On the bright side, the Northstars found a way to get the best of Liverpool this season.
C-NS fended off a late comeback attempt from Liverpool to win 57-55 on Friday.
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The victory snapped the Northstars' four-game skid versus Liverpool.
"We haven't beaten Liverpool in a while, so this win tonight was a little sweeter," Martin said. "The (sectional final loss) will never change unfortunately, but it felt good to get this win."
The Northstars were up 56-52 with around 20 seconds left in regulation. About 10 seconds later, Liverpool's Daniel Dunn drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 56-55.
After C-NS's Nathan Francis knocked a free throw, Liverpool's Fredrick Fowler Jr threw up a half-court shot as the clock struck zero. But, the shot curved to the right and away from the basket.
"We didn't think tonight's game would be easy," Martin said. "Thankfully, we were able to escape a little bit in the end. We'll take the win and improve from there."
Andrew Benedict led the Northstars with 18 points, including eight made shots from the charity stripe. Francis scored nine of his 14 points off 3-pointers. Samuel Werts also notched nine of his 11 points from beyond the arc.
"Andrew and Nate are studs. They were great tonight and stood up for us," Martin said. "Sam stepped up huge for us too. He was scoring, rebounding and blocking shots."
Alex Trombley finished with a game-high 19 points for Liverpool, including nine free throws. Fowler chipped in 16 points.
"They're a great program," Martin said. "They have good players and they're well-coached."
C-NS (9-1) hosts Fayetteville-Manlius on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
"They're tough. They keep winning games, so that game will be a tough one," Martin said. "We're still improving as a team, and I don't think we've reached our highest ceiling yet. We haven't completely tapped into our potential, so I hope this win tonight helps us accomplish that down the stretch."
